You're listening to David Platt Messages, a weekly podcast of sermons and messages of pastor, author, and teacher David Platt. Today's episode is a rerun of one of our most listened to messages of all time.
SPEAKER_01Well, if you have a Bible, and I hope you or somebody around you does that you can look on with, let me invite you to open with me to Colossians chapter 4. Feel free to use table of contents if you need to to find Colossians chapter 4. As you're turning, I want to welcome those of you in Loudoun and Prince William and Montgomery County. It's good to be together across Washington around God's Word. As we begin our time in the Word, I want to give you a heads up that was mentioned earlier here, maybe at other campuses. We're going to be talking today. If you look at the notes that hopefully received when you came in about sexuality and our culture, and specifically diving into LGBTQ type terms at different points. And I just want to say that at the start because I'm always encouraging parents to bring their children with them to worship. But today we might be diving into some things that you're not necessarily ready to talk with younger children about. And I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable situation. So if you have any doubts, let me encourage you to feel free now, at this point, any point, to take your children to Kids Quest or even The Rock, if just not ready for that. And I'd have given you more heads up, but this is not what I had planned on diving into today. But for the second week in a row now, I believe God is leading us in a different direction in His Word than what I had planned, specifically in light of circumstances around us in our community. I've now been a part of this church officially for two years, have only lived here for one year, and I'm still learning much about the spiritual climate in our community. And over recent days, particularly with the lead up to elections this Tuesday, I've learned much about things that are happening in our schools, specifically in Northern Virginia, but with clear parallels to things that are happening in the district and in Maryland. According to a Washington Post article, Northern Virginia specifically has been identified, along with the state of California, as a quote, laboratory for policies regarding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues. So last year, the Fairfax County School Board, which is represented here at our Tyson's campus specifically, voted, despite overwhelming opposition at the meeting, I watched the video, voted to replace biological sex with sex assigned at birth, basically saying that gender identity is not part of your biological makeup. Gender identity is a choice you make based on how you feel. And by the way, just as a side note, we're not talking here or really at any point today specifically about the small number of people whose physical anatomy is not typically male or female. So that's a key difference. We obviously want to show abundant grace toward those who find themselves in that situation. But going back to Fairfax County, our schools in this county contain what's called a family life education curriculum comprised of 80
hours of sexual education that does not require parental permission and includes lessons for children on how there are many ways to express gender, and girls might really be boys, or boys might really be girls, and it's up for you to choose and to live accordingly to with all that involves. So that's Fairfax County, and then Loudoun and Prince William and Arlington have all taken similar steps and are considering more in their curriculum or policies. Now I'll mention more about school boards and elections later, but far more important. When I read these things, I realized I have not, at one point in the last two years, specifically addressed these issues. Like I have not in any sermon looked into the eyes of those of you who have questions about these issues, or maybe those of you who identify yourselves somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum if we use those labels. And I have not encouraged you with God's love in God's word. I've not in any sermon looked into the eyes of a parent whose teenage daughter is saying she's a boy, or whose son is saying he's a girl. Or even those of you with grown children, I've not looked at you specifically and said, here is God's grace and truth to help you navigate these waters. And I want to apologize for that. And Martin Luther, whose anniversary of starting the Protestant Reformation was celebrated this last week, said, if I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God, except precisely that point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proven. And to be steady on all the battle fronts beside is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point. And I don't want to flinch or fly away from where the battle is raging. Now, to be sure, it'd be easier to flinch or fly away. Like my other plan for today was much easier than this. Some of you might even wish we'd gone with the other plan. Like some of you are already cringing. Either because you identify somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum, or you have kids or parents or family or close friends who do. And whenever this issue comes up in church, like you cringe with anxiety or even anger that's been built up over years of hearing Christians talk about these issues in ignorant or unkind ways. And I just want to say that God has designed the church to be a safe place for people to honestly share their thoughts, their desires, their fears, their struggles, even their sin without fear of shame, and to find in God grace and help and love and hope and life. And that's my hope today. Which is why at the end of our time, just like we've been doing every week, I'm gonna invite people to believe in Jesus and be baptized, like to put on one of these shirts and to confess faith in Jesus publicly today. You might say, well, how can talking about sexuality lead people to be baptized? And I'm gonna show you how, in God's word, to every person in this room or at other campuses, no matter who you are, no matter how you identify yourself, no matter what desires you do or do not have, no matter what you or your family are going through, I just want to open up God's word and show you his goodness and his love and his help and his hope. Because this is what God has called us to do in the church, to see how his word powerfully and helpfully speaks to the real issues we encounter in this world. This was clear in our Bible reading this week. That's why I have you open to Colossians chapter 4.
Listen, starting in verse 2, to God's word. God says, continually, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. So that last phrase, so you may know how you ought to answer each person. Like the whole picture here is followers of Jesus living in their culture, their community, and speaking with God's grace to pressing issues in that culture and community. So we're gonna do this today. I want to show you specifically how the gospel speaks to, relates to sexuality. Now, for those of you who might not be familiar with the term gospel, it basically means good news, specifically the good news of God's love for you in Jesus. And me in Jesus. And I want to show you how this issue of sexuality is so much bigger than sexuality, because how we view gender identity and sexual orientation affects not just our understanding of who we are and how we live, it affects our understanding of who God is, how God works, whether or not we can trust God's word, and ultimately what we all most need in our lives. And not just in our lives now, but for all of eternity. So the gospel and sexuality are deeply intertwined. So what I've done in your notes, we just printed these out special early this morning, is I've given you 10 truths from God's Word. And we're gonna run through them pretty swiftly and camp out on a couple more than others, but I just want to want you to get a big picture view of what the Bible says about sexuality. So that, well, first, if you are not yet a follower of Jesus, maybe you're visiting today with a family member or a friend or you're on your own. And I'm just so glad you're here even today, because there are so many caricatures of what the Bible teaches about sexuality according to so many outlets in our culture. And I hope today that you will see a picture, not just of what God's word says about sexuality, but a picture of God's love for you right where you're sitting. And a way that I pray will be life-changing for you. And then for those who are followers of Jesus, that today you might see in these ten truths a picture of God's grace to stand on in your life and to share with children and family and friends and others in the culture and community around us. Which is where we'll close back here in Colossians 4, where we're gonna
come back to these encouragement, encouragements from God's word to us as a church in the culture around us. So, how do the gospel and sexuality relate to one another? I won't have time to turn to all these places in the Bible. I've put references all throughout your notes, but ten truths. Number one, God's word tells us that every one of our bodies is wonderfully made by God. This is the exact language that the Bible uses in Psalm 139. Every one of us is fearfully and wonderfully made by God Himself. I mentioned last week that my family has been in the process of international adoption again, and we haven't known if this child to be was a boy or a girl. So, in the absence of a name, we've just called him or her wonderfully made. Well, this Tuesday we got a call with a name and a picture of a precious three-year-old little boy. So, yeah. I'll share more even next week, Lord willing, uh, as long as the plan doesn't change. Uh uh and wish I could show you a picture now, but I want to be careful, nothing is final in adoption until it's final, so I'm gonna wait. But with no offense to any of your children, my child is cuter. Uh and I'll go ahead and tell you that my child has uh cleft lip and palate. So we've been talking with doctors this week about all that means and surgeries and speech therapy that lie ahead over many years. But do you know what the most sobering moment of this week was? It was when one doctor that we're talking with told us that this is a reason some parents abort their babies. And I thought, no way, but it's true. I have read articles this week about the number of babies being aborted for minor deformities multiplying in some countries over recent years, like tripling and quadrupling. And I cannot wait to hold that boy in my arms and tell him that we've been calling him wonderfully made for a reason, because he is. And though this doesn't specifically pertain to gender, the reality is we live in a culture that at the core is saying to babies before they're born and children after they're born that they are not wonderfully made. And it's not true. Every one of our bodies is wonderfully made by God, and this is foundational for understanding our sexuality. Truth number two, also foundational. Every one of our bodies is ultimately created for God. This is a very significant truth, foundational to any discussion of sexuality. Because most every discussion of sexuality today starts with a different foundation. So most every discussion of sexuality in our culture starts with a foundation of self. Be true to yourself is the mantra, or you'll commonly hear, live your truth. Be true to how you feel, what you think, regardless of what your biology says, your parents say, regardless of what the culture says, you will be happy and fulfilled only when you are true to you. And we desperately need to at least ask the question: what if that foundation is not true? What if you are not at the center of the universe and everything doesn't revolve around you? What if God is at the center of the universe and everything revolves around Him? What if then the purpose of your body or my body is not ultimately self-gratification, but the purpose of our bodies is ultimately God glorification. That foundation changes everything. You know what's interesting, it's obviously common in our culture for the Bible's teaching on sexuality to be seen as offensive. Like it does not take long for Christians to be backed into a corner trying to defend biblical views of sexuality or marriage. But this is where I think we need to realize that a biblical view of sexuality or marriage is nowhere near the greatest offense in Christianity. I don't know if this makes things worse, but the Bible is much more offensive than this. Christianity's offense begins with the very first words of the Bible. That's why I put Genesis 1-1 in your notes here. In the beginning, God. So the initial offense of the Bible from the first words is that there is a God who creates us, who has authority over us, and to whom we are accountable. Now, suddenly the focus is not be true to yourself. The focus is now be true to God. It's not trust yourself and how you feel. No, it's trust God and what God says. And I just want to ask the question: what if understanding this is the way to satisfaction in our bodies? What if the God who created you and me, who loves us, who knit us together and knew us before we even knew ourselves, what if God knows better than we do what is best for our bodies? That is gospel good news truth that leads to number three. Every one of our bodies then is supernaturally designed by God to be satisfied in God. Psalm 63 depicts the satisfaction we are created for in God that nothing in this world can compare with. 1 Corinthians 6.13 says not just that the body is for the Lord, but the Bible teaches that the Lord, God, is for the body. That's the language you hear that. God is for your body. It's just so critical to hear and believe, particularly in a day when it is increasingly common for men, women, and children in our culture to question whether or not God's design for our bodies is good. In so many ways we question this, not just sexually, in so many ways.
And I get it, when our when our feelings and desires and thoughts go against God's design, which we're gonna talk about in a minute, it's so tempting to then think maybe God's design is not good. But I want to encourage you, don't believe the lie. Like we talked about last week, even with special physical or intellectual needs, you are no accident. You were not born in the wrong body. God did not mess up when he made you. So don't do it, don't go down a road and don't let this culture take you down a road that says God messed up when he made you. No, believe God's love for you and rejoice in the reality that God himself has supernaturally designed your body right where you are sitting to be satisfied in him. Which leads to truth number four. Every one of our bodies is sexually defined by God for our good and for the gospel. Now that's a loaded statement. That's so significant. One, every one of our bodies is sexually defined by God. And it has been this way since. Since the beginning of creation. Genesis 1, 26 through 28, God created male and female, both beautifully crafted in his image with equal dignity and honor and worth. Male not better than female, female not better than male, both beautifully designed and defined by God, with a hundred million nucleated cells carrying copies of male and female chromosomes, all for our good. From the very beginning, for our flourishing as distinctly defined males and females, for our multiplying through males and females coming together in marriage, which leads right into how God has not just made you a male or a female for your good, he's also done this for the gospel. That's why I put Ephesians 5 here. Think about this. When God created people, he didn't have to do it this way. This is, and why he didn't have to create man and woman the way he did? He didn't have to bring man and woman together in something called marriage as the means through which humanity would multiply and flourish. But he did it this way for a reason. Ephesians 5 tells us that God designed a man and woman to come together in marriage so that the world would have a picture on the canvas of human history of the depth of his love for us. Marriage between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, is designed by God to show the world a portrait of his otherworldly love for you and me. And even outside of marriage, we're designed to complement each other and bring glory to God as males and females working uniquely together. So don't think for a second that your biological makeup is a personal malfunction. Your gender identity is not a social construction. No, your gender identity is a supernatural invention. The good and loving creator of the universe has defined you, male or female, for your good and for the display of his gospel, his love to the world. So why you ask, and so many of us ask, then why do I feel this way? Why do I have these real desires, these real thoughts that are so different from what we've just seen? And the gospel speaks to this as well. Truth number five. We are all prone to sexual confusion, deviation, and rebellion against God. Remember, I mentioned the greatest offense in Christianity from the beginning of the Bible, that there is a God who creates us, has authority over us, to whom we are accountable. You tell any person in our culture that today, tell someone that there is a God who sustains, owns, defines, rules, and will one day judge him or her, and that person will balk in offense. Every person would. All of us without exception. This is evident from the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis 3, the first man and woman ever created who took God's word and said, Did God really say that? And the more they asked the question, the more they convinced themselves that God's word could not be trusted and that their way was better than God's way. And they went with what they felt and what they thought over what God said. And that is the same story for every single one of us. None of us are alone in this. Sure, it looks different in each one of our lives. Specifically, some are attracted to men, others are attracted to women. Some of us feel this desire for that, other of us feel that desire for this. And the challenge in our culture is that we have said, if you have a desire, then you should fulfill it. You have a right to fulfill it, no one should stop you from fulfilling it. Especially if you were born with that desire, if it is attributable in some way to your genetic makeup. You can't help that you desire this, so of course, fulfill that desire. You were made to.
Even desires that we believe are attributable to our genetic makeup. Take, what some might say is an extreme example, but a report in Time magazine that says, infidelity may be in our genes. So does that mean that a married man who has a desire for a woman who is not his wife must fulfill that desire in order to be happy or to be fully himself? No way. Like the mere presence of a desire does not excuse or promote unfaithfulness in marriage. That's a desire I have does not equate to that's what I should do. So the point is we all have hearts that are prone to sexual confusion and question. The deviation from God's good design for us. Temptation to go against God. This is why we could never say God would not allow someone to be born with a bent toward sexual confusion or deviation or rebellion, because the reality is we are all born that way. We're all born with an inclination away from God and his good design for our lives. Now, as we said, our inclinations, our questions, our temptations are different. Part of the mystery of this fallen world is why certain people have certain desires while other people have other desires. We don't always choose our temptations, but we do choose our reactions to those temptations. Which is why this issue is so important in not just our lives. We think about our children's lives when children and teenagers are going through puberty, experiencing the height of sexual confusion and questions, all kinds of questions that every one of us as a teenager inevitably has had, and potential deviations and temptations to go against God's design. So in our culture to actively say to children and teenagers, give yourselves over to whatever those desires and thoughts are. And it's viewed as offensive or even on the wrong side of history to say, no, trust God. Believe God that his design for you is beautiful and his word towards you is good. Oh, that is not the wrong side of history. This is what God has been saying throughout history. You can trust me, but we don't listen. None of us do. We are. I am, you are, we are all personally, biologically, culturally, and spiritually prone to sexual confusion, deviation, and rebellion against God. And not just prone to it. Truth number six, we are all guilty of sexual sin and separated from God. This is Romans 1 through 3. Every one of us, every one of us in this gathering today, in this room and other campuses, is guilty of sexual sin, which 1 Corinthians 6 defines as any sexual thought, desire, action outside of marriage between a man and a woman. And we are all guilty. I am, you are, which is why we must be careful never to look at the speck in another's eye when there's a plank in our own. If we shake our heads in disgust at this law or that ruling, but then indulge in pornography or look continually at sexual morality on TV or movies or in ads, then we have missed the point. Likewise, if any one of us votes that way or takes this stand at that school board meeting, but then we turn a blind eye to our own sexual sin, we have totally missed the point. We are all guilty of sexual sin and separated from God, which means truth number seven, we are all desperately in need of reconciliation to God. His going outside of God's design,
and his desire to be brought back into relationship with God. And near the end of that prayer, he prays to God and he says, God, restore to me the joy of your salvation. Which makes sense, doesn't it? Think about it. If God does indeed love us, and he has indeed made us, designed us for our good, then our greatest joy will be found not in rebelling against God, but in experiencing reconciliation to God. And this is what is so sad, not just about this issue in our culture, but about this issue in every one of our lives. Let's be honest and realize that amidst all of our differences, we are all alike in this way. Every one of us, regardless of where or how you or I might see ourselves on any spectrum of gender identity or sexual orientation, you want, I want, we all want to be happy, to be fulfilled. I want that, you want that. And here's the deal. Please hear this. In our culture, we have convinced ourselves that sexual freedom is the key to our fulfillment. If only I have sexual freedom to identify or act in this way or that way, then I will be happy. But what if that is not true? What if that is actually a lie? What if sexual expression, sex itself is good, but it is not God? What if there is a God who really actually loves us, then that would mean our greatest need is not liberation of our sexuality. No, our greatest need is reconciliation to our God. Oh, believe this thing. I'm urging you today, no matter who you are, not based on my thoughts or my opinions, but based on God's word, I'm urging you to believe this all across this room and other campuses to realize that the greatest need in your life right now is reconciliation to God. Trust in God, not trust in ourselves. I just see it. In all of our efforts to redefine and reorient ourselves, we are running away from the only one who can truly satisfy our souls. And the good news of the gospel is that Jesus has made a way for all of us to experience restoration to relationship with God. We are all sexual sinners and we all need a Savior, and we have one. Romans 5. Jesus has made a way for you and me, every single one of us, to experience reconciliation with peace with God. Whether we are male or female, married or divorced, single or cohabitating, with whatever sexual orientation, every one of us has turned from God to ourselves. We have all sinned against God and we are all separated from God. But the good news of the gospel is that God has come to you and me in the person of Jesus. And he has paid the price for all of our sin against him. Jesus, in love for you and me, has died on a cross to make it possible for us to be forgiven of all our sin and reconciled to relationship with God. No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, no matter how you've struggled, Jesus has made a way for you to have your greatest need in life met forever. Jesus has made a way for you, like just hear this, for you to find ultimate fulfillment by experiencing restoration to relationship with God.
And it gets better because truth number nine, losing count. Jesus has made a way for all of us to enjoy our ultimate identity in God. Galatians 2, Colossians 1, and 3 all speak to how when you are reconciled to relationship with God through faith in Jesus, you experience an entirely new identity. 2 Corinthians 5, 17, you are a new creation. Oh, this is so key. In a culture that equates identity with sexuality. And we could list all the different labels that we assign one another, L G B T Q, I A, and on and on and on, like different ways to identify, define your identity according to your sexuality in such a way that you view the world through that grid. But the gospel awakens us to an entirely new grid. The gospel opens our eyes to the reality that God, our Creator, is good and loving, that we at our core have sinned against Him, and our identity is sinful, all of us. But Jesus came to pay the price for our sins on a cross, and in doing so, he has made a way for you and me to have an entirely new identity. His identity. No longer separated from God, now reconciled to God, no longer stained by sin, now clean from sin, no longer slaves to sin and self, but now free to live according to God's good design. No longer guilty before God as judge, but now loved by God as Father, no longer deserving of eternal separation from God, never to grasp all that He has created you to be. No, now you have eternal life, experiencing more and more every day for all of eternity, exactly who God has created you to be. I think about Rosaria Butterfield, who describes herself as a lesbian professor at a large university who took delight in disparaging the Bible and all who believe it. Stupid, pointless, and menacing, she writes. That's what I thought of Christians and their God Jesus, who in paintings looked as powerful as a breck shampoo commercial model. She wrote some scathing editorials of Christians in a local newspaper. And a pastor and his wife, after reading them, reached out to her and simply invited her into their home. Week after week after week. She started reading the Bible and wrestling with this question Did I really want to understand sexuality from God's point of view? Or did I just want to argue with God? And one night she started praying and she said she didn't stop until the morning. And she wrote, When I looked in the mirror, I looked the same. But when I looked into my heart through the lens of the Bible, I wondered, Am I a lesbian? Or has this all been a case of mistaken identity? If Jesus could split the world asunder, divide marrow from soul, could he make my true identity prevail? Who am I? Who will God have me to be? This crisis of identity led her to what she describes as one ordinary day when she trusted in Jesus. In this war of worldviews, she wrote, Jesus triumphed. And I was a broken mess, a train wreck. I did not want to lose everything that I loved. But the voice of God sang a sanguine love song in the rubble of my world. And I weakly believed that if Jesus could conquer death, he could make right my world. This is the guarantee that God gives us in his word. That when we trust in Jesus, he alone can make right your world and my world. Which means we all have a choice. Truth number 10. Reject and defy God in life, or repent and trust God as life. So I am looking in this room and campuses full of males and females of all ages with unique
stories and unique backgrounds and unique questions and unique struggles. And today I want to ask every single one of us the same question. What choice are you going to make in your life? Where are you going to put your faith? In the ever-evolving thoughts of our culture, or in the everlasting truths of God's Word? Where are you going to put your trust in your imperfect desires? Or in God's perfect love for you? Are you going to reject and defy God in your life? Or are you going to repent? A word that means to turn from yourself and change your mind and trust God as your life. And I want to urge you to do the latter today. Like today. Probably in a way you didn't see coming. But God is speaking to you right now. And when you trust in Jesus and you experience reconciliation with God, then you will find and enjoy entirely new identity in Him. An identity and a satisfaction and fulfillment that will last forever. That nothing in this world can take away from you. And then when this becomes a reality in your life, then what do you do with these truths? Now hear what God's
saying to us in Colossians 4 regarding the church and sexuality and our culture. One, pray to God steadfastly, with alertness in the world and gratitude in our hearts. That's the first command in Colossians 4, verse 2. Pray, being watchful. Meaning, don't stick your head in the sand when it comes to what is going on in the world around you. We need to open our eyes. I mentioned earlier what is being taught in our schools, and it's not just here, it's across our country. Where in some places kindergartners are being taught that there are many ways to express gender. Elementary schools are participating in exercises where they explore gender options. And in so many settings, teachers are required to teach this and may be fired and have been fired if they don't. Counselors required to advocate this and may lose their licenses and have lost their licenses if they don't. In 18 states and the district, now there are bans on any counseling that would even question expression of a different gender. And open your eyes because the tentacles of this teaching go far beyond the classroom or the counseling room. They extend into the home where there are stories around our country of parents whose children have been taken from them because the parents would not support their children's desire to identify as a different gender. One court case in Ohio where a child was taken from her parents because they would not support her desire for male hormone treatment. The state accused the parents of resisting their child's wishes for religious reasons, and they ended up taking the child from her parents. They have totally lost custody. Another story of a 14-year-old daughter who met another girl at school who said she was transgender, so this 14-year-old daughter decided she would be too. She first announced that she was a boy at school. Teachers and faculty began calling her a new male name without informing the parents. When the parents found out, they asked the school to call her by her given name. The school refused. The school social worker went on to recommend that the girl explore halfway houses for children because of her parents' lack of support, which is not unusual. Teachers in many places now encouraged to report parents for child abuse and neglect if they disagree with a child's gender identification. I could continue, but the point is we need to open our eyes. And before we do anything else, to pray. To pray to God. We don't pray without hope. We pray with thanksgiving steadfastly, and we share the gospel clearly in the opportunities God opens. You know what's so interesting about Colossians 4? Paul is writing here about open doors from the gospel when he's in prison for sharing the gospel. That's one of the things I love about this passage because Paul knows that in everything that's happening in the world around him, even the things he doesn't understand, there are open doors for the gospel. And I'm totally convinced the same is true today. That's why I title this message at the top of those notes: Sexuality in Our Culture, an open door for the gospel. Because I'm convinced that open doors for the gospel are wider today in our culture than even a few years ago. The further we go down a dark road of sexual confusion in our culture, the brighter gospel light will shine. Be sure of this. God's design is better, more breathtaking, more beautiful, more satisfying
than anything we could ever come up with on our own. Let's clearly share the gospel, good news that God alone satisfies, and He will. As we share the gospel clearly, the Bible says, live wisely according to God's word in the time and place we're in. Walk in wisdom, verse 5 says, making the best use of the time, meaning maximize the time and place God has put you in. God put you and me in this time and this place, in this culture and this community. So may we be found faithful in it, wise, stewarding the time and the opportunities we have. And yes, when we think about those opportunities, by God's grace, we live in a country where we actually have a say in these things. We have a say in what is taught in our schools, and what is legislated by our leaders. We have a say in who leads our school boards and who makes our state and local laws. And this Tuesday comes around every year as one of the ways we as followers of Jesus can walk in wisdom. So I want to encourage every person over the next couple of days to learn as much as you can about who is up for election on your school board or in other races that have ramifications for biblical issues across our counties and states and the district. And obviously, we've talked today about one issue among so many in our culture the Bible speaks to. I know some of you might be wondering why do churches and pastors speak about certain issues and ignore other issues, and I would say I think that's a problem, and it's one that I and our pastors are committed to addressing in better and better ways to speak clearly wherever God has spoken clearly across political lines, being clear about biblical truth and every issue, not just pet or popular issues. All this is say, do your homework on this and other issues over the next 24, 48 hours, and then wisely, according to God's word, vote in a way that promotes Romans 13, that which is good. We cannot sit idly by, regardless, but all the more so when our counties are laboratories that affect this issue across our country. I I just think, I just think, I was I was looking at the data, like one of the school board members here in Fairfax County who believes God's word. He gained a seat the last time by less than 200 votes. I read about a county in Delaware that reversed its policies on sexuality because enough people got involved. Like we have thousands of people in our church. God has given us an opportunity by his grace, especially as we remember our persecuted brothers and sisters who don't have opportunities. We do. So let's step into that and steward what God has given us with wisdom, according to God's word, God's ways, which I should probably point out here that what Colossians 4 is encouraging us to do hits on some of the hardest
things to do that we fail in most today. You think about it, to pray, and we are so quick to talk and complain, and so slow to get on our knees. To share the gospel clearly. When we don't like to talk with others about sex, identity, or ultimate spiritual truth, we'd prefer to talk sports and weather. To be wise as citizens, and we are so prone to either overreaction on one side or abandonment on the other. And then this last one may be our biggest struggle, to speak graciously with God's love for the people we're around. To speak graciously. When so many of us are are prone not to speak on this issue, just to say silent, or those who do speak, to speak on this issue without grace. And this is where we need to remember that this issue is not ultimately about policies, this is about people. People, kids, moms, dads, school board members, who are all seeking a way that seems right and good. Which means even when we disagree with ideas, we love the people who advocate those ideas. We invite them into our homes, we care for them in their lives, we meet them where they are. We go to the hurting, to the wandering, to the wrestling. We go to families and kids who are struggling and feel alone. We go to anyone who feels marginalized. We condemn any and every act of abuse or bullying. Like we need to be good at going and caring and loving with God's word, knowing it's just going to get harder. Knowing we may lose our jobs or may go to prison like Paul did. But this is the way of Jesus. Even then we speak with grace. Always, verse 6 says. Because we all know that we all need God's mercy in our lives. Which is where I'll just close where we started, with looking specifically to those who either have identified at some level on the LGBTQ spectrum, those who are walking with a child or other family member or a friend through honest questions and discussions,
and then generally to a whole gathering full of people who struggle with sexuality. I just want to look to you in light of these ten truths and say that Jesus is for your good, and you can trust Jesus with your life.
SPEAKER_00Personally, and as you love people who are close to you in his name.net.